ENERGY, CLIMATE AND THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES: It’s debate time. The first presidential debate is on Wednesday in Denver and activists hope energy and the environment are central themes.

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Nine groups — including the League of Conservation Voters, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club — dropped off 160,000 petitions calling on Jim Lehrer, the host of the first debate, to ask President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney about climate change. And Friends of the Earth Action and Forecast the Facts launched a website, climatesilence.org that is aimed at pressuring the candidates to “speak honestly and directly about how they would address climate change if elected.”

Meanwhile, Dan Weiss, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, offers some suggested debate questions in a Climate Progress post this morning. One suggestion for Romney: “What scientific evidence led to your recent questioning of the scientific consensus that climate change is real and human induced? And what evidence led to your current opposition to any carbon pollution reduction program?” And one for Obama: “What specific steps will you take to achieve further carbon pollution reductions as part of your second term agenda? Will you discuss the specifics of these plans with Americans during the campaign?” Read more: http://bit.ly/QgllQ5

But do the debates matter? The New York Times offers this assessment of how tricky it can be to score big in the debates: “History shows that candidates have different ways to score through presidential debates: the forceful put-down, the surprising show of skill, the opponent’s fumble, and superior post-debate tactics. But it also shows that to fundamentally alter the direction of a campaign, a candidate usually has to accomplish all of those things.” The story: http://nyti.ms/RsEpMx. And The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza offers his predictions for the debate: http://wapo.st/SvqP7G

Welcome to Morning Energy. I’m your host Andrew Restuccia, filling in for Alex Guillén for the day. He’ll be back tomorrow. The Pro Energy team is gearing up for debate coverage this week. And it wouldn’t be a debate without a drinking game. I’m still trying to iron out the details, but here are my initial thoughts: Take one drink for every mention of burdensome regulations or “picking winners and losers.” Take a shot when either candidate mentions energy independence or “all of the above.” Finish your beer if Romney mentions Solyndra, Ener1 or Fisker. Bonus shot if he mentions all three. And if climate change comes up, put down your drinks and be sure to take careful notes.

MORE REACTION TO OBAMA’S CHINA-WIND DECISION: Bob King and I broke down the decision and possible fallout on Friday [Read more here: http://politi.co/VgvzDs]. But reaction continues to roll in. Blake Clayton, fellow for energy and national security at the Council on Foreign Relations, emailed: “I have confidence that that process considers national security interests apart from any campaign politics that may be at play. President Obama is being very careful about his approach to U.S. economic relations with China and kind of the face he puts forward in the next few weeks prior to the election. My sense is that the decision he made in this case fits in with the larger narrative that he’s happy to put forward. But I think that anyone who would chalk up this decision to purely electoral motivations is being cynical.”

LAWSUIT IN THE WORKS: Ralls Corp., the Chinese-owned company that Obama blocked from building wind farms in Oregon, is preparing to sue — again. The Financial Times has more: “No one has ever before sued the U.S. president over this type of ruling, but Ralls argues that Mr. Obama exceeded his powers when he blocked the project and without giving a detailed justification.” The story: http://on.ft.com/R5L9xT

NYT ON ROMNEY AND ENERGY: The New York Times published an A1 story Sunday detailing Romney’s shifting positions on energy and the environment. “Today, as the Republican nominee for president, Mr. Romney is far more apt to talk about oil drilling than energy-efficient cars. He has presented a plan to open up more land and coastline to oil and gas drilling, grant speedy approval to the Keystone pipeline to transport crude oil from Canada to the United States, end wind and solar power subsidies and curb regulations that discourage burning coal for electricity. It is an agenda far different from the one he outlined in his early days as governor,” the Times’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports. The story: http://nyti.ms/SR4SFT

** A message from America’s Natural Gas Alliance: What does the Marcellus Shale mean to "wild and wonderful" West Virginia? Responsible natural gas development is expected to support more than 70,000 jobs and $10.3 billion in economic output by 2035. Watch our new video: http://www.anga.us/wv **

SUPREME COURT WATCH: The Supreme Court hears re-arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum this morning. We broke down the case (and the other energy cases on the Supreme Court’s agenda) late last week. Read the story: http://politico.pro/V4GCzh

GREENS HIT FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY IN NEW VIDEO: Green for All is releasing a video today that “takes a satirical look at the clean, green rhetoric of the fossil fuel industry and the impact of their harmful policies.” The video features a mock spokesman for the coal, oil and gas industry named Gene Vashing. “We believe Americans want to see more of the exciting fossil fuel jobs that keep our machine well fed. Jobs in fire safety [cuts to a picture of the Deepwater Horizon disaster], wildlife rescue [cuts to a picture of a turtle covered in oil], asthma treatment [cuts to little girl wearing a breathing apparatus] and even ornithology [cuts to a bird covered in oil],” Vashing says in the video. See the video here: http://bit.ly/QgqB6o

QUICK HITS

— The New York Times reports that on the growing sense that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo “is consigning fracking to oblivion”: http://nyti.ms/SRuXEW

— GenOn's coal-burning power plant in Alexandria, Va., is set to close. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/QDOXZq. And one GenOn employee who’s about to lose his job just won the D.C. lottery: http://bit.ly/UzN3HH

— USA Today reports: “Of all the places that America's new jobs are, the emerging energy business, directly or indirectly, might be responsible for more of them than almost anything else.” The story: http://usat.ly/QDruIk

POLITICS ROUNDUP: BAD NEWS FOR ROMNEY EDITION:

— The Associated Press reports that Obama “is within reach of the 270 electoral votes needed to win a second term. Republican Mitt Romney's path to victory is narrowing.” The story: http://apne.ws/QDtznd

— And Nate Silver at The New York Times reports on the latest polling in a story headlined, “As Iowa Goes, So May Go Romney’s Chances.” The story: http://nyti.ms/SPAPyj

THAT'S ALL FOR ME. Have a nice day.

** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: We believe in a clean energy future. Natural gas is a cleaner energy choice and a key partner to solar and wind technologies. From California to Florida, natural gas facilities are working with renewable energy to ensure steady, affordable and cleaner energy choices for communities across our nation. Because it is an abundant and affordable energy source available right here in America, natural gas can help make the promise of cleaner energy a reality in more American communities. Natural gas is smarter power today. Visit anga.us to learn more. **

** A message from Vet Voice Foundation: Tens of thousands of service members and veterans rely on public lands to hunt, fish, camp and heal from the wounds of war. These lands are part of the American heritage we fought for. As a new President and Congress look to rebuild America's infrastructure, we call on them to make an equal investment in maintaining our public lands and parks for our service members and all Americans. Support for our veterans must extend to investing in and protecting America’s natural heritage, for our children and grandchildren. www.VetVoiceFoundation.org **

Authors:

About The Author

Andrew Restuccia is an energy reporter for POLITICO Pro.

Prior to joining POLITICO, Restuccia covered energy and environmental politics and policy at The Hill. He also reported on energy policy for The Washington Independent and Inside Washington Publishers.

Restuccia graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in journalism. He grew up in Massachusetts, where he got his start as an intern at the Lowell Sun.